Half
by Rei Tomiyama
Summary: Post-season 1. Kings are only attracted to other kings, Awashima knows. SuohxMunakata.
1. Dead

A/N: Just a random one-shot that came out after watching the final episode today (of Season 1, anyway). Pardon me for any OOC-ness on Awashima's part. Spoilers for the final episode, so please don't read this if you're not aware of its contents!

Hints of SuohxMunakata, so if you don't like this pairing, don't say I didn't warn you.

Edit: Rewatched beginning of K, and a shout-out to Kaoriocha, who reminded me to confirm the season. XD My bad... I had this weird impression it was summer. Ugh. What an idiot I am.

**Half**

Chapter 1 - Dead

The Captain has changed.

It is not a lot, not enough to be noticed by other members of the Blue clan. Munakata Reishi is a man who commands respect and adoration, and even against the Red King, not once did he falter in the execution of his duty.

Still, she can see it; working for so long under him as she has, it would be a transgression, almost, if she had not. His recent absorption in puzzles that are adorned in distinctly red shades, an ashtray that sits discreetly underneath the mountain of paperwork at his work desk, the faraway smiles that do not quite reach his eyes…

The icy composure the Captain had always possessed is beginning to splinter at the edges, and more than anything, it is that which frightens her most.

No one knows the full story of what happened in his fight with Suoh, but one glance at the Captain's blood-spattered hand was enough to reassure them that the Blues had emerged victorious. At the time, she had not bothered to ask the details, but now she regrets not doing so. Their leader had killed the Red King and prevented a catastrophe like that of Kagutsu Crater's, but clearly it had come with a heavy price.

"Awashima-kun," he asks her pleasantly one afternoon, a warm cup of bitter green tea resting in his hands, "if the bar owner of Homra were gravely injured and beyond medical assistance, and he instructed you to kill him, would you be able to do it?"

In the midst of adding more red bean paste to her plate of sweets, Seri stills. The silence that settles in the room, undisturbed even by the quiet sips he takes, carries an ominous air. She wishes to say something, but nothing will come out. Her mind is as white as the snow that fell on that winter night weeks ago, on the death of the Red King. She can only imagine a painful, forced laugh from Kusanagi as he gestures for her to finish him off, and against her will, she can feel tears forming at the corners of her eyes, tears that she tries to blink away, rapidly.

The Captain does not seem to expect an answer, however, and as soon as he finishes his tea, he politely excuses himself and leaves. He does not bother to tell her where he is going, and when she tries to place a call, the service abruptly informs her that he is in a location with no connection, or he has turned the batteries off.

She suspects he has gone back to the ruins of Ashinaka High School.

He and Suoh Mikoto used to have a twisted sort of friendship, she knows, not altogether different from the relationship she shares with Kusanagi. The Captain has never seen anyone as his equal, save for the Red King, in whom he had taken a particular interest in. His eyes were only ever truly alive when he was facing Suoh, their skirmishes ultimately ending up in stalemates but no less exhilarating nonetheless.

Suoh was everything the Captain was not, brash and violent and impulsive, his crimson eyes gleaming like molten metal as he conjured his flames. For her, those were intrinsic character flaws, but the man Munakata Reishi had been drawn to them.

Perhaps, she thinks, reflecting on the deadened blue eyes of her Captain after he had returned alone from the forest, in his own way he had even loved the Red King.

Kings are only attracted to other kings, she has told Fushimi, and she wonders if Scepter-4 will be able to carry on as it has before, with its main rival, Homura, no longer officially a clan without its King, and the uncertainties that the Captain battles against in solitude.

Helpless as she is, she can do nothing but have faith that this time, too, their Captain will return.


	2. Awake

A/N: The second chapter of the unexpected multichapter drabble-fic! Practically had nosebleeds while writing this. I apologize in advance if the writing is not terribly good, and I hope that you can still enjoy reading this somehow. XD

Chapter 2 – Awake

The forest is still as he remembers it, if a little worse for wear after his encounter with Suoh. The continuous snowfall has blanketed the area in pure, pristine whiteness, erasing the footprints he had left behind, although it cannot completely hide the debris of destroyed branches and toppled trees.

Reishi makes his way purposefully to the clearing where he had slain the Red King. He ignores the slight tremble of his hands, sliding one hand into a coat pocket to retrieve a packet of cigarettes. These days, only the nicotine affords him a moment of sanity in the midst of the madness that is the aftermath of Suoh's death. Between Awashima's not-so-subtle glances of concern and the uncontrollable rage and despair driving the recent violent acts of the leaderless Homura, there is no time to even properly grieve for the friend he's lost, no time to take off the mask of Scepter-4's Captain and simply revert to being Munakata Reishi.

Munakata Reishi, the man who would have thrown away his sword and gladly followed Suoh into the afterlife.

He reaches into his other pocket for the lighter, but soon becomes frustrated when the sparks ignite, only to sputter and die shortly after. Holding the unlit cigarette to his lips, he closes his eyes and tries not to sigh.

"Why don't I light that for you," the voice comes out as a low purr in his ear, "Munakata." He has to smile at the accuracy of his own recollection. Yes, Suoh would have phrased it just like that, he thinks, leaning behind him until Reishi can feel the warmth emanating from him, red aura blindingly bright. One hand would then stop in front of Reishi's face and conjure a flame, lighting his cigarette. He takes a deep drag of imagined nicotine, content in his little fantasy.

The sensation of heat in his mouth and between his fingers is so real, Reishi ends up opening his eyes. Bemused, he stares at the cigarette in his hand while ash crumbles to the ground, expelling smoke into the air as he does so. There can only be one logical explanation for this, but he knows it is physically impossible. That being the case, he concludes that he has evidently lost his mind in a delusion of his own making. He lets the cigarette drop, crushing its remains underfoot. He thought he would find some peace in a desolate place, but it has proven to be otherwise.

Something grabs his shoulder just as he tries to take a step forward, like fingers clenched so tightly they are burning through the cloth and into his flesh. "Not even a thank you?" Suoh's voice is slow and mocking, and Reishi stiffens. "I thought you Blues had better manners than that." He finds himself roughly turned around, and he comes face to face with red hair and blazing amber eyes.

An eternity seems to pass in the few seconds his eyes take to process the image in front of him. His lips move, but he cannot find the strength to form words.

"You're unusually silent." The phantom of the Red King casually swipes a cigarette for himself. "I figured you'd have more to say." A detached part of Reishi notes that the red earring Suoh wears is missing, and his thoughts stray to the same piece of jewelry that sits untouched inside his coat pocket.

He sighs and pushes his glasses up before answering. "I was certain I had put an end to your miserable existence, but even in death you continue to be an annoyance." He slams Suoh against the nearest tree, moving closer until his lips are almost brushing the phantom's cheek. "Explain how this happened," he bites out through gritted teeth. He clutches at Suoh's shirt fiercely, like it is the only lifeline he has left. The cigarette butt is knocked to the ground, unnoticed.

"Regrets," Suoh says simply, and when Reishi glares at him, he covers the Scepter-4 captain's fingers with the palm of his hand and kisses him. Scalding heat rushes through every pore of his skin, and his lips tingle and burn, as if he has kissed wildfire.

Suoh pins him to the snow-covered ground, but the cold doesn't register, not even when he pulls Reishi's shirt up and slides one hand tantalizingly beneath his neatly-pressed trousers. The Red King snorts derisively at the sight of the cravat before he burns it to a crisp. "I will be demanding compensation for that," Reishi tells him haughtily, or tries to, because Suoh chooses that moment to sink his teeth into his exposed collarbone and push hot, slippery fingers inside, and renders him utterly incapable of anything but gasping for air like a drowning man.

When he regains his senses and begins rearranging his clothes fussily into some semblance of order (less his favored cravat), his gaze flickers to Suoh. It infuriates Reishi how the bored expression on the amber-eyed King's face has not wavered. He hasn't the faintest idea how a dead King can put his mark on another person, let alone another King. The Homura insignia seethes beneath his shirt, unseen, and his sympathy for Fushimi, who must have had to deal with the mark for a long period of time, increases a notch.

"This is certainly an interesting turn of events," he muses aloud, more for the other man's benefit than his own. "At this point in time, I can no longer insist that you are a product of my imagination, in which case we must beg the question why you exist at all, given that your one-word explanation of 'regrets' is hardly an explanation." He finds himself sighing again. "Indeed, you cause me no end of troubles, Suoh."

Suoh's face is a mixture of amusement and irritation. "Enough dawdling, Munakata." His eyes sharpen their gaze.

"Then allow me to get straight to the point. Trying to fulfil your regrets, admittedly, has not made you disappear." Reishi gestures with one hand for emphasis. "Contrary to that, I have somehow been branded with your sign, despite the fact that I myself am the King of the Blue Clan." He summons his aura, and it glows an unearthly blue in the whiteness of the forest. "Still, I remain the Blue King, and there are no side-effects as far as I can tell. That must mean this is no ordinary mark."

He looks expectantly at Suoh, but the Red King's mind is already elsewhere. He supposes he should have known. The man has no interest in intellectual talk; dead or alive, that will not change.

"What are you planning to do now?" In spite of his predicament, Reishi is enjoying himself. Frankly, life without his rival has been nothing short of dull.

Suoh smirks. "Giving you another chance to monitor me twenty-four hours a day, I guess."

Reishi stops in his tracks and turns to face his friend and rival. "How crass," his smile is firmly in place, "and disgusting. I believe I now have a better grasp of why no women have entered your clan." Suoh doesn't even have the grace to look embarrassed.

"We have Anna," he returns blandly, "and you've got that busty chick. I don't see how that's different."

And so their ridiculous conversation continues, until they reach the entrance of the currently-under-reconstruction Scepter-4 Headquarters. Reishi is suddenly afraid to look behind him. Could the entire matter _really _just have been a hallucination?

"Stop daydreaming, Munakata." Suoh is eyeing the building with poorly-disguised malice, undoubtedly filled with a desire to burn it down again. Somehow, the sight inexplicably relieves him.

He is a realist. He accepts that Suoh's return may be temporary, and may not even last until the following day. It may be an illusion, a trap, proof of his own insanity, but in the here and now, the man's existence is real. The mysteries surrounding him are just new puzzles Reishi has to solve, and more importantly…

Munakata Reishi, the man, will be someone Munakata Reishi, Scepter-4 Captain, could never be.

Suoh Mikoto's companion.


End file.
